Automatic lathe



Oct. l2 1926.

n 1,662,724 J. J.`T'HACHER `AUTOMATIC LATHE Filed April 20. 1923 3Sheets-Shea?l 1 ,www

Y ATTORNEY Oct. ilz 1926.

J. J. THACHER AUToMMIc: LATHE Filed April 20. 1923 ATTORNEY' oct. 12192e. 1,602,724

J. J. THACHER AUTOMATIC LATHE Patented Oct. 12, 1926.

UNITED sTATEs PATENT oFFlcE.

FOHN J'. TEACHER, 0F 'WETHERSFIELD, CONNECTCUT, )ASSIGNOR TO PRATT & WHIT'- NEY COMPANY, F NEW YORK, N'. Y., A. COBFOBATION OF NEW JERSEY.

AUTOMATIC LATHE.

Application led April 20, 1923. Serial No. 633,533.

The im roved mechanism comprises a i0 lathe spin le and a parallelldriving shaft therefor mounted in the lathe headstock. An operativedriving connection including simple and inex ensive change gears isprovided between t e spindle and drive shaft,

, l a housing or cover for the change gears being pivoted to theheadstock and having means therein for supporting and housing substitutechange gears. One object of m invention is to provide an improved spinle driving mechanism of this type.

A further and .primary object of my invention is to provide improvedoptional driving mechanism for the lathe spindle, such mechanismcomprising means for o erating the spindle driving shaft either rom anoverhead countershaft or from a motor mounted on the base of themachine. The

mechanism is so arranged that either of these 4drivers may be usedwithout inv any way affecting the construction or operation of-theheadstock and its mechanism.

- Another feature of my invention relates to the tool'carriage operatingmechanism which is so arranged that the same may-be driven slowly fromthe spindle for feedin and relai tively rapid from either of the saiddriving mechanisms for traversing. The speed oftool feed is thereforealways dependent upon, the spindle speed and the tool may e rapidlytraversed directly from the main. ldriver. It is accordingl a furtherobject of the invention to provi e improved mechanism for performingthese functions.

With the above and other objects in view,

my invention consists in the features of construction and operation 'setforth inthe following speciication and illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings. In such drawings annexed hereto and forming a part of thisspecification, I have shown certain embodiments of my invention but itwilll be understood'that the invention ca-n be otherwise embodied andthat the drawings are not to be construed as defining or limiting thescope of lthe invention, the claims appended to this specification beingrelied upon for that purpose.

Referring to the figures of the drawings Figure 1 is a front perspectiveview of my improved automatic lathe equipped with means for driving thesame from an overhead countershaft.

Fig. A2 is a rear perspective View thereof.

Fig. 3 is a" listorted plan'sectional view through .the headstock.

Fig. 4 is a cross section thereof on line 4--4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary rear elevation of the headstock endof themachine, certain parts being shown in section and broken away.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary cross section thereof on line 6--6 'of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a view like Fig. 2 but showing the machine as motor operated.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary view taken on line 8-8 of Fig. 7. I

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary view showing the adjustable mounting of themotor.

Fig. 10 is a detail sectional view taken on line 10--10 of Fig., 8.

As above stated, `this invention relates.

rimarily to improvements in automatic athes. The purpose` of theimprovements is particularly to so standardize such a lathe that thesame may be substantially vmanufactured and then fitted to be driveneither from an overhead countershaft or from a motor mounted on the baseof the lathe. As shown in the drawings, the lathe spindle is driventhrough simple change speed mechanism from an adjacent driving sha-ftparallel thereto in the headstock. This driving shaft may be belt drivenfrom .a pulley mountedv thereon as shown in Figs. 1 to 5 or motor drivenfrom a sprocket wheel mounted thereon as shown in Figs. 7 and 8. Thetool carl riage is, fed from the lathe spindle and is adapted to betraversed rapidly directly from the main driver whether the same be beltdriven or motor driven. The novel construction whereby these variousoperating functions may be accomplished comprises the improvements of mypresent linvention and such construction will now be described indetail.

Referring first to the mechanism shown in Figs. 1 to'6 of the drawings,`1 indicates the base or bed of m `automatic lathe having na'h'eadstock2 an a tailstock 'the'reon.

. position due to neath the headstoclr Within the section 16 A toolcarriage 4 is mounted for sliding movement on the 4'base longitudinallyof and Lbetween the headstock and tailstock. .The tool carriage isadapted to be operated from a cam drum 5 mounted on a shaft 6 extendinglongitudinally through the base orbed of the machine. A tool slide 4 ismounted on the carriage for movement transversely of the headstock andtailstock.

A Work spindle 7 is rotatably mounted in headstock. As illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 5, the shaft 8 is provided respectively with fast andloose pulleys 9 and 10 thereon whereby the same may be driven by a belt9 from anfoverhead countershaft. The driving connection between theshaft 8 and spindle 7 comprises an intermediate shaft 11, change gears12 and 13 and gears 14 and 15. The speed of the spindle may be varied bytransposing the gears 12 and 13 and by substituting| other sized gearstherefor.

The change gears 12 and 13 are enclosed by a housing 16 having a coversection 16 pivoted thereon at 17. Pins 18 are provided and are adaptedto support substitute change gears 12 and 13.

gravity.

A belt shifter 19 straddles the spindle 7 and is pivoted on a bolt 20 inthe headstock. The free end of the shifter is provided with an operatinghandle 21 and a spring 22 is adapted to hold the shifter in Contact withthe headstock to prevent looseness and rattling thereof.

A rod 23 is secured to the tool carriage 4 and extendslongitudinally ofthe machine. This rod extends through a lug 24 on a plate 25 slidablylmounted on thelathe bed. A pair of collars 26 and 26 are adjustablysecured to the rod at opposite sides of -the lug 24. The plate 25isprovided with a roller 27 adapted to cooperate with cam strips 28 on thecam drum 5 whereby to reclprocate the plate 25 and thel tool carriagewhen the drum is rotated in the direction of the arrow (Fig. 1)..

Secured to the rear of the machine bebyfa is agear box 29 within ingWorm wheel 35 or a rapidly revolving carriage traversing spiral gear 36.Mechanism for shifting this clutch, including a clutch shifting rod 37.is morev fully described in my aforesaid patent.

The carriage feeding Worm wheel 35 is driven from the lathe spindle 7 asfollows: A shaft 38 is mounted in the headstock parallel with thespindle and is operatively concone pulle box 29. gear 42 secured to thepulley 41 meshes with a gear 43 on a shaft 44 extending into the box andhaving a worm 45 thereon in mesh with the Worm wheel 35. The worm wheel35 is thereby driven from the spindle 7 and the speed thereof may bevaried by means of the vcone pulleys 40 and 41.

The carriage traversing spiral gear 36 is driven from the main drivingshaft 8 as follows: A belt 46 operatively-connects a pulley 47 on theinner end of the shaft 8 with a pulley 48 on one end of a shaft 49extending into the box 29. A belt tightenin pulley 5() is provided forthe belt 46. spiral gear 51on the shaft 49 Within the box rapid speeddirectly shaft 8. It will be understood that the belt tightening pulley50 may be so adjusted that a sllpping of the belt 46 would occur toprevent shock or breakage of the machine should movement of the .toolcarriage or its operating parts become obstructed. A s ur gear 52 lonthe other end of shaft 49 mes es with a gear 54 to drive a lubricatingpump 53 mounted on the bottom of box 29.

From the above description it will be .noted that the Vhe'adstockmechanism is very simple and compactly arranged and that the spindlemaybe driven at any of various speeds fromthe main driving shaft 8."Fur- ,thern1ore,- the tool carriage may be operated slowly fromthespindle for feeding merely by'engaging the clutch 34 with the worm Wheel35 and may be operated rapidly from theyv main driving shaft 8 fortraversing merely by engaging the clu-tch with -the spiral gear 36.

The mechanism shown in Figs. 7, 8 and 9 the same as that just describedexcept that the machine is motor driven instead of belt driven. A motor55 is mounted on a bracket 56 pivoted at 57 to the base 1. A

bolt 58 anchored to a rigid bracket 59 threadedly engages the bracket 56whereby to adjustably support the motor.

lt will be noted that the before-mentioned pulleys 9 and 1G are notprovided on the shaft 8 and that a sprocket gear 60 has been substitutedfor the relier .47, .it Srrwket from the main driving gear 61 has alsobeen substituted for the pulley 48 shown inFig. 2. A driving chain 62operatively connects a sprocket pinion 63 on themotor shaft with thesprocket lgears 60 and 61. The motor thereby serves to directly operateboth the main driving shaft 8 and the rapid traversing gear 36. Thetension of the chain 62 may be adjusted by adjusting the nuts 58 of thebolt 58. As s own in Fig. 8, a chain guard 64 covering the chain 62 issupported on the belt tightener pulley bracket 50.l This guard is notillustrated in Fig. 7.

As -illustrated in detail in Fig. 10, the sprocket gear 61 isfrictionally mounted 0n t e'- shaft 49. A pair of lflanged sprocketsupporting and -engaging elements 65 and 66 aresecured to the shaft 49by means of a key 67.. A pair of friction washers 68 and 69-are` mountedon the 'said elements respectively between their flanges .and thesprocket. The sprocket is provlded with `a plurality of bores thereinwithin which are seated compression springs 70. Aplate 71 adjacent thewasher 69 is provided with a plurality of pins 72,A extendingrespectively into the springs 70. The sprmgs normally expand to providea frictional connection between the sprocket and the flanges of theelements 65 and 66 and-such frictional con-J nection canfbe adjusted bymeans o f a nut 73 threaded to the outer end of the shaft 49. It will beunderstood that lthis construction provides a 'frictional connection".between the sprocket gear 61 and the spiral gear 36 to prevent shock orbreakage of the f machine should movement pf the tool car-- riage or itsoperating parts become ob-y structed.

It is believedthat the various improvements comprising my invention willbe clearly understood from the above description and further descriptionthereof is therefore believed to be unnecessary herein. The parts of themachine illustrated in the drawings but not comprising within them- Iselves a part of my present invention have not'been described herein.Reference to my aforementioned patent may be had for a description ofsuch parts.

What I claim is '1. In a lathe, the combination of a base, `a

. `headstock and. a"tailstock thereon, a spindle mounted in theheadstock, a tool carriage..y

movable 4on thel base lon 'tudnallyofthe spindle between the heads ookand tailstock, a tool slide'mofvable on the carria e transversely of-thespindle, a shaft para lel with` the spindle, means for driving-theshaft, means including change gears operatively connecting theshaft`withthe spindle, a lurality of such gears being removable an inpterchangeable, a driving connection. operated by the said driving .means.for moving the carriagel slowly for feeding, andy a driving ing, ashaft parallel with the spindle, means fordriving the shaft, meansincluding change gears operatively connectin the 4,shaft with thespindle, a 4plurality o such gears being removable and interchangeable,and means or moving the carriage relatively rapid for' traversing.

3. In a lathe, the combination of a base, a headstock and a tailstockthereon, a spindle mounted in the headstock a tool carriage movable onthe base longltudinally of the spindle between the headstock jandtailstock, a tool slide movable on the carriage transversely of thespindle, a rotary cam beneath the headstock, means providin a drivingconnection from the cam to t e carriage,

means for rotating the cam from the spindle v for feeding the carriage,a shaft parallel with the spindle, means for driving the shaft, i

means .including change gears operatively connecting the shaft with thespindle, a plurality of such gears being removable and interchangeable,and means for rotating the cam relatively rapid for traversing thecarriage.

4. In a lathe, the combinatlon of a base,

a' headstock anda ltailstock thereon, a spindlein the headstock,-a motormounted on the base and operatively connected to the spindle for drivingthe same, a carriage movable on the base longitudinally of the spindlebetween ,the headstock and tailstock, av tool slide movable on thecarriage transversely ofthe spindle, means driven from the spindle formoving the carriage for feeding, and

llO

means adjacent to and driven from the motor for moving .the carriagerelativelyrapid for traversing.

5. In a lathe, the combination of a base, ay headstock and a tailstockthereon, a spindle mounted in the headstock, a motor mounted on thebase, an operative connection from the motor to the spindle, a carriavemovable on the b'ase longitudinally of the spind}e between the headstockand tailstock,

a too slide movable on the carriage transversely of the spindle, meansdriven from the spindle for moving the carriage for feeding, and meansdrivenfrom the said o er-l5 ative connection for moving' the carriagerelatively ra id for traversing.

6. In a lat e, thek combination ofa bas-e, a

headstock thereon, a s indle in the headstock, a motor mounted on t ebase and operatively connected to the spindle .for driving the l0 meansrendering same, ,a tool support movable on the base longitudinally ofthe spindle, a feed box adjacent the motor, means including gearingWithin the box for moving the tool support, means'for operating thegearing from the spindle for slowly moving the tool support for feeding,and means for operating the gearing from support relatively rapid fortraversin 7. In a lathe, the combination of -a 2(base, a headstockthereon,l a spindle mounted in the headstock, a motor mounted onthebase, an operative connection from the motor to the spindle, a toolsupport movable on the base longitudinally of the spindle, .means drivenfrom the spindle for moving the ltool support for feeding, meansdrivenfrom the said operative connection for moving the tool supportrelatively rapid for traversing, and

the last named means nonthe motor for moving the tool positive inoperation .whereby to .prevent shock or breakage' thereof.

8; Ina lathe, the combination of a base, a headstock thereon, a spindlein the headstock, a motor on thev base, .means including a sprocketchain connecting the motor With the spindle, base longitudinally of thespindle, a feed box, means including gearing Within the box for movingthe tool support, means for operating the gearing fromthe spindle forslowly moving the tool support for feeding, and

means including a frictional connection fory operating the gearing fromthe sprocket chain for moving the tool support relatively rapid fortraversing. v

lin testimony whereof, ll hereto affix my signature.

JOHN J. Tonnie.

a tool support movable on the ,f

